1. Is Empire Minecraft going to get a pvp arena? That would be epic. People keep saying it's going to happen but it's not.

Separate server for PVP games in the future.

2. Will there ever come a day again when the servers are almost always 60+ people online? Those were the days.. where'd everyone go?

A lot of this is up to the players, not so much the staff. We can help gain new players by referring, making positive YT videos, being helpful on MC related forums with EMC signatures, voting (a really easy one), being a great community/welcoming and helping new players when they join.

Our staff team is going to be helping soon, with the new tutorial to improve our drop-off rate, Dragon Tomb's will be a big attraction when they're complete along with many other cool updates that are planned.

To go with Alex's post, Minecraft as a game is now getting on in its life. Yes there is still a steady flow of purchases, but the majority of people who have purchased the game have found a server for themselves if they are to play online. We were lucky enough to get the population boom when we did but since then people have lost interest in the game, yes they come back everyone and then but its a nostalgia thing. Be happy that those of us who are still here are so and that the servers are still standing strong and holding numbers, as long as this continues revenue will remain to keep them online.